The 22-year-old is also attracting the interest of Scottish giants Rangers.
Martinez said: “He is a player we’ve been following for a long time.
“We’re not a club that can rely on our cheque book to bring players in. We need to be creative.
“We also need to sign the right characters, and to do that you need to follow them for a long, long period, and James has been one of the top performers in the Scottish League this season.”
